WATCH: See artist Carl Gregg’s drawing machine in action

Vicki Newman

An artist has unveiled his drawing machine at a South Tyneside gallery.

Carl Gregg, who uses computer coding to create abstract pieces of art, has opened an exhibition at the Customs House in South Shields.

Carl Gregg, a PhD research student at The University of Sunderland, exhibition at the Customs House, South Shields.

The 45-year-old, a PhD research student at the University of Sunderland, says his exhibition explores the generative processes of design.

Carl, from Ashbrooke in Sunderland, said: “I’ve worked with more traditional types of output before such as scanners, projectors and printing, but I became more interested in the generative processes of design.

“A lot of this came from the fact that I can’t draw.

“I came into my education as a mature student and found that a lot of people on my course were fantastic at drawing and I couldn’t do it, so I designed this machine to do the drawing for me.

I came into my education as a mature student and found that a lot of people on my course were fantastic at drawing and I couldn’t do it, so I designed this machine to do the drawing for me.

Carl Gregg

“You can create anything with the machine by designing the code. A lot of people use them to turn photographs into drawings but I was more interested in the abstract side of things.”

As well as Carl’s pieces of art, two of the machines he designed to create them can be seen working away in the gallery.

One of the pieces on display is a list of hundreds of names of Holocaust victims that Carl designed his machine to draw.

Other images track bicycle routes around Whitley Bay, where he now lives.

Carl Gregg, a PhD research student at The University of Sunderland, exhibition at the Customs House, South Shields.

Carl, who also teaches design courses at the university as part of his PhD, added: “I’ve got a great research team in Andrew Richardson, Manny Ling and Beryl Graham, who always give me great feedback, but obviously they look at it in quite a critical way and are always looking for ways I can make things better.

“This is my first ever solo exhibition outside of the university and it’s great to see what people think of it when they look at it, and everyone likes being told that something they’ve made looks nice.

“It’s a very different experience for me sharing my art like this.”

Transition 5: Machine Sketches is on display until Thursday, June 18.

Carl Gregg, a PhD research student at The University of Sunderland, exhibition at the Customs House, South Shields.

Entry to the gallery is free. It is open from 10am to 8.30pm on performance days and 10am to 6pm on non-performance days, Sundays and Bank Holidays.